These words anticipate the words of Brigham Young on January 14, 1847, concerning the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Many have marveled because of his death; but it was needful that he should seal his testimony with his blood, that he might be honored and the wicked might be condemned” (D&C 136:39). The sacrifice of life in the cause of eternal salvation and exaltation—if requisite in the designs of God—is a principle of faith and devotion. The Lord proclaimed through the voice of the Prophet Joseph on August 2, 1833 in the midst of severe persecution and suffering by the Saints in Missouri: “Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me” (D&C 97:8). Sacrifice was, is, and always will be a central dimension of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In comparison with the transcendent atoning sacrifice of the Savior, there is nothing that man can do to come close. Thus the sacrifice of all things in devotion to the cause of immortality and eternal life is never too high a price to pay, for even the sacrifice of all things leaves man a debtor before God (see Mosiah 2:21).
After refuting the evil position of King Noah and his priests through the exquisite word of God, Abinadi dies as a martyr, “having sealed the truth of his words by his death” (Mosiah 17:20). He has had but one purpose—to do the will of the Father.
Here is an application for our times: Abinadi would not recall his words, for they would stand as a testimony against his unrighteous detractors. He suffered death by fire because he would not deny the commandments of God—thus sealing his testimony of truth by his death. We may not be asked to die for them, but we have certainly been asked to live for our beliefs. Let us realize that standing for, living by, and testifying of the truth is our duty (see Mosiah 18:8–9). To abdicate this sacred responsibility, either through a sin of omission, or worse, through a sin of commission in willfully teaching that which is false, carries severe consequences. President Joseph Fielding Smith stresses this point:
We who are called and ordained to the ministry or to teach in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints carry a very grave responsibility. Every man that teaches holds a great responsibility. And he that teaches error and leads men from the path of truth is committing one of the greatest crimes that it is possible for man to commit. If he, through his teachings, is presenting false doctrine, and leading men astray from that which is eternal truth, away from the kingdom of God, he is taking upon himself a grave responsibility for which he will have to answer at the judgment seat of God.
The Lord said in one of the early revelations before the organization of the Church that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. Then he said if a man should labor all his days and convert but one soul, he should have great joy in the kingdom of our Father, and if he should convert many souls, then much greater would be that joy (see D&C 18:10–16). Reversing the picture, he who blinds one soul, he who spreads error, he who destroys, through his teachings, divine truth, truth that would lead a man to the kingdom of God and to its fulness, how great shall be his condemnation and his punishment in eternity. For the destruction of a soul is the destruction of the greatest thing that has ever been created. (Take Heed to Yourselves [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1966], 190)